Ordinance — City of Elgin

ORDINANCE NO. 3-307
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ELGIN, NEBRASKA, PROVIDING FOR THE REGULATION OF DOGS; PROVIDING FOR THE FILING OF THIS ORDINANCE IN THE OFFICE OF THE CLERK OF THE COURT OF ANTELOPE COUNTY, NEBRASKA; AND PROVIDING FOR PUBLICATION AND THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS ORDINANCE.
Be it ordained and enacted by the Mayor and City Council of the City of Elgin, State of Nebraska, as follows:
ORDINANCE NO. 3-307(a). DANGEROUS OR POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS ANIMALS – SPAYING OR NEUTERING: MICROCHIP iDENTIFICATION AND LICENSE REQUIRED.
Any animal judicially determined to be dangerous or administratively determined to be potentially dangerous shall be spayed or neutered and implanted with microchip identification by a licensed veterinarian at the owner’s expense no less than 30 days after such determination is entered with written proof of spaying or neutering and the microchip identification number being provided to the animal control authority within 72 hours of the procedure being completed. In addition such dangerous or potentially dangerous animal shall be required to be licensed as a dangerous or potentially dangerous dog within 30 days of the determination.
ORDINANCE NO. 3-307(b). SAME – CLASSES REQUIRED.
The owner of any animal determined to be dangerous or potentially dangerous shall be required to attend, at the owner’s expense, within 90 days after such determination is entered, a responsible pet ownership class approved by the animal control authority and, at the discretion and direction of the animal control authority, a dog behavior class provided or approved by the animal control authority.
ORDINANCE NO. 3-307(c). SAME – WARNING SIGNS REQUIRED.
Any property wherein a dangerous animal is kept, harbored or confined shall be posted with warning signs visible from all areas of public access.
The warning signs must:
(1) Be no less than ten inches by 12 inches in size,
(2) Contain the words “Warning; Dangerous Animal” in high contrast lettering on a black background in English, and
(3) Lettering must be no less than three inches high.
ORDINANCE NO. 3-307(d). CONFINEMENT OF DANGEROUS ANIMALS.
No person owning, harboring or having the care of a potentially dangerous or dangerous animal shall permit such animal to go unconfined on the premises of such person. A dangerous animal is unconfined as the term is used in this section if such animal is not:
(a) Confined indoors; or
(b) Confined outdoors in an enclosed and locked pen or structure upon the premises of the person described above; provided the existence of such a pen or structure is permitted by building permits or other regulations. Maintenance of a dangerous animal is not permitted in areas where such structures or pens are not authorized by building permits or other regulations. If permitted, such pen or structure shall be:
TABLE INSET:
Size of Anima Square ft. of pen
Extra large (over 26 inches at withers or over 75 lbs.) 48
Large (over 20 inches and up to 26 inches at withers or not over 75 lbs.) 40
Medium (over 12 inches and up to 20 inches at withers or not over 50 lbs.) 32
Small (12 inches or less at withers or not over 20 lbs.) 24
The pen must be constructed with chain link fencing for all four sides and the top. If the pen or structure has no bottom secured to the sides, the sides must be imbedded in the ground no less than one foot, or have a concrete pad for the bottom. The pen or structure shall be set back at least ten feet from the nearest property line.
ORDINANCE NO. 3-307(e). DANGEROUS OR POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS ANIMALS – MUZZLE, LEASH AND HARNESS REQUIRED.
It shall be unlawful for any person owning, harboring or having the care of a dangerous or potentially dangerous animal to permit such animal to go beyond the property of such person unless the animal is under the control of a person 19 years of age or older and restrained securely by a harness and leash no longer than six feet and properly muzzled to reasonably prevent the animal from biting.
ORDINANCE NO. 3-307(f). PROOF OF INSURANCE FOR DANGEROUS ANIMALS, POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS ANIMALS, AND EXISTING PROHIBITED ANIMALS.
Any animal that has been determined to be a dangerous animal or a potentially dangerous animal, and any prohibited dog as defined in Ordinance No. 3-307(g) that is required to be licensed under this chapter cannot be licensed unless the person having custody, ownership or control of such dog or other animal first presents written proof of public liability insurance of not less than $100,000.00 to the animal control authority. Such insurance shall be maintained in effect for the period such dangerous or potentially dangerous animal is so designated, provided, that insurance for a prohibited dog as defined in Ordinance No. 3-307(g) shall be maintained in effect for the life of the prohibited dog.
ORDINANCE NO. 3-307(g). PROHIBITED DOGS; EXEMPTION FOR EXISTING, LICENSED DOGS.
It shall be unlawful for any person to own, keep, possess, control, or harbor a prohibited dog within the municipal limits of Elgin, Antelope County, Nebraska. This section does not apply to those prohibited dogs, which are not permitted to be owned, kept, possessed, controlled, or harbored, which were properly licensed with the City pursuant to this Chapter as of September 1, 2013. An owner of such dog previously existing within the municipal limits of the city and properly licensed as of September 1, 2013 shall be allowed to own, keep, possess, control, or harbor such dog during such dog’s lifetime, but shall not be permitted to own, keep, possess, control, or harbor any new or additional prohibited dogs.
For purposes of this section, prohibited dog shall be defined as any dog that is an American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Dogo Argentina, Presa Canario, Cane Corso, American Bulldog, Doberman Pinscher, German Shepherd, Alsatian, Alsatian Wolf Dog, Siberian Husky, Chow Chow, Songshi Quan, Malamute, Rottweiler, Wolfdog, Wolf-Dog Hybrid, or Wolf Hybrid, or any dog displaying the majority of physical traits of any one or more of the above breeds (more so than any other breed), or any dog exhibiting those distinguishing characteristics which substantially conform to the standards established by the American Kennel Club or United Kennel Club for any of the above breeds. The A.K.C. and U.K.C. standards for the above breeds are on file in the office of the animal control authority. Testimony by a veterinarian, zoologist, or City animal control officer that a particular dog exhibits distinguishing physical characteristics of a prohibited dog shall establish a rebuttable presumption that the dog is a prohibited dog.
A prohibited dog which is a participant in an organized dog event approved by the City authority shall not be so prohibited during such dog’s period of participation in such event, and shall be properly leashed and muzzled at all times when not in actively competing in such event.
ORDINANCE NO. 3-307(h). RESTRAINT – DOG.
It shall be unlawful for the owner of any dog within the Village to fail to keep his dog securely restrained or otherwise confined in or upon his premises in an enclosure sufficient to contain the dog.
Each animal shall be separately tethered. That no animal shall be tethered outdoors in excess of 15 minutes at any one time unless an owner, custodian or person responsible for the animal, 19 years of age or older, is present in the same yard in which the animal is tethered . The tether shall be at least five times the length of the animal’s body as measured from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail, terminates at each end with a swivel, weighs no more than one-eighth of the animal’s weight, is free of tangles, prevents strangulation or injury and prevents the animal from being within 15 feet from the edge of any public street or sidewalk. Provided, that if the tethering method is a trolley system, at least 15 feet in length and less than seven feet above ground, and meets the foregoing tether requirements, the animal may be tethered outdoors for up to one hour with an owner, custodian or person responsible for the animal, 19 years of age or older, is in the same yard in which the animal is tethered.
ORDINANCE 3-307(i). SANCTION AND PENALTY.
In addition to the sanctions which may be imposed by law, any person who fails to keep his dog securely restrained or otherwise confined as required by this Ordinance shall pay the following penalties:
(a) For the first violation, a penalty in the sum of $150.00.
(b) For the second violation within 24 months of the first violation, a penalty in the sum of $300.00.
(c) For the third violation within 24 months of the first violation, and each subsequent violation thereafter, a penalty in the sum of $500.00.
Such penalties shall be paid to the animal control authority and shall be used for enforcement activities.
ORDINANCE 3-306(3). REMOVAL OF TAGS.
It shall be unlawful for any person to remove or cause to be removed the collars, harness or metallic tag from any licensed dog without the consent of the owner, keeper or possessor thereof.
ORDINANCE 3-306(4). UNLICENSED DOGS.
It shall be unlawful for any person to own or harbor a dog unless such dog has been properly licensed pursuant to this Chapter. All dogs in the City without a current license tag affixed as required in this article are hereby declared a public nuisance and shall be impounded pursuant to this Chapter and the owner thereof shall be fined pursuant to this Chapter.
Approved and passed by the governing body of the City of Elgin, Nebraska, this 5th day of August, 2013.
CITY OF ELGIN, NEBRASKA
BY: Mike Schmitt
Mayor
ATTEST:
Vicki S. Miller
City Clerk
PUBLISH: AUGUST 14, 2013
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